White text on a black background is unusually hard to read at small font sizes. Shows rainbow artifacts in black-and-white video.

Bottom Line

The Ricoh PJ HD5450 doesn't handle fine detail as well as most 1080p models, but it's bright enough for a midsize room and light enough to carry with you.

Add the Ricoh PJ HD5450 ($1,200) to the list of choices if you're looking for a 1080p projector bright enough for a midsize room—particularly if you want one that's also light enough to carry with you. The DLP-based HD5450 has a 3,500-lumen rating and weighs 6 pounds 10 ounces, and it adds more watchable video than many data projectors. It's doesn't have as high a brightness rating as competing data projectors, however, and it doesn't handle fine detail as well as most high-resolution models, particularly for white text on a black background at small font sizes.

The BenQ and Dell projectors both offer somewhat higher brightness ratings than the HD5450, but all three are rated higher than the Epson model, and all three are built around a single DLP chip with the same 1080p resolution. The Epson EX9200 has a higher 1,920-by-1,200 resolution and uses three LCD chips.

The Epson projector's higher resolution gives it a 16:10 aspect ratio rather than 16:9, which means it has a 10-percent larger image area for the same image width. Its LCD engine gives it the advantage of being free of rainbow artifacts (red-green-blue flashes) and of having a better brightness than DLP projectors.

Brightness
Most DLP-based data projectors, including the HD5450, have a significantly lower color than white brightness, a difference that can affect both color quality and the brightness of color images. Having two different brightness levels complicates any attempt to make brightness comparisons between projectors. (For more on the topic, see Color Brightness: What It Is, Why It Matters.)

Even though the Dell 4350 and BenQ MH741 have identical 4,000-lumen ratings, they could still have different brightness for color images. And although images with a white background will be brighter with those two models than with the 3,500-lumen HD5450, the same is not necessarily true for color images. LCD models like the Epson EX9200 offer matching color and white brightness, so the Epson projector's lower (3,200-lumen) white brightness compared with these DLP models doesn't tell you anything about its relative brightness for color images.

Another complication for making comparisons in this case is that for any given sizein height, width, or diagonal measurementthe image area will be larger for the Epson model's 16:10 aspect ratio than for the 16:9 aspect ratio for the other three models. If the brightness in lumens were identical for all of these projectors, the 16:10 aspect ratio's larger area translates into more areaand a lower brightness per square inchthan the 16:9 models.

That said, according to the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) recommendations, the HD5450's 3,500-lumen rating should make it bright enough in theater-dark lighting for a 231- to 313-inch, 16:9 image (measured diagonally), assuming a 1.0-gain screen. In moderate ambient light, the appropriate size would drop to 153 inches. For smaller screen sizes, you can lower the projector's brightness by using its Eco mode, one of its lower brightness predefined modes, or both.

SetupRicoh ships the HD5450 with a soft carrying case, making it easy to bring with you or store away when you're not using it if you want to. However, at 4 by 12.4 by 8.8 inches (HWD) and 6 pounds 10 ounces, it's in a size and weight class that typically winds up permanently installed or on a cart. Setup is standard, with a manual focus and manual 1.2x zoom.

Image inputs on the side panel include two HDMI ports, two VGA ports for computers only, and both composite and S-video ports. There's also a LAN port, but it's limited strictly to letting you control the projector over a network. Both HDMI ports support HDMI 1.4a, for full 3D support with a video device.

Image and Audio QualityThe HD5450's image quality is relatively low, but still acceptable. Color balance and color quality on our standard suite of DisplayMate tests were both in the near-excellent range. Some colors in each mode looked a little dark, but that's expected for a projector that has different white and color brightness levels.

More of an issue is that the HD5450 doesn't handle fine detail as well as most high-resolution models, although it does well enough for most purposes. White text on black was highly readable in my tests at 7 points compared with 5 points for the Epson EX9200, and black text on white was crisp and readable at sizes as small as 5 points, compared with 4.5 points for the Epson model.

For full-motion video, the HD5450 does better than many data projectors can manage, although it's well below the level you'd want in a home-entertainment model. The contrast ratio was obviously low in my tests, colors looked faded, and noise was moderately obvious in scenes that tend to show noise. I also saw rainbow artifacts frequently enough in a black-and-white clip that they would likely be bothersome to anyone who sees them easily. With our color clips, however, they showed infrequently enough that even those who are sensitive to them aren't likely to find them annoying. Overall, the video is watchable, at least for color.

The sound quality is also good enough to be useful. However, the 10-watt mono speaker delivers only enough volume to fill a small room. For larger rooms, plan on plugging an external sound system into the audio output.

ConclusionBefore settling on a 1080p model, be sure to consider the Epson EX9200 for its 1,920-by-1,200 resolution. For extra brightness suitable for larger images, take a look at the Ricoh PJ HD5450, along with the BenQ and Dell models. All three offer higher brightness than the Epson projector, at least for images with a white background, like spreadsheets. The Dell and BenQ models are tied for brightest, with the Dell 4350 offering the lighter weight and the BenQ MH741 offering the lower price.

The Ricoh PJ HD5450 delivers somewhat lower brightness than the Dell or Epson projectors, and it doesn't hold fine detail as well as many 1080p models. However, it holds detail well enough for most purposes, and it's tied with the Dell model for lowest weight, which means it will give you better portability than the BenQ MH741 for a lower price than the Dell 4350.

About the Author

M. David Stone is an award-winning freelance writer and computer industry consultant. Although a confirmed generalist, with writing credits on subjects as varied as ape language experiments, politics, quantum physics, and an overview of a top company in the gaming industry. David is also an expert in imaging technologies (including printers, moni... See Full Bio

Ricoh PJ HD5450

Ricoh PJ HD5450

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